Waco siege …

Christian Century, June 14, 2003 by Stephen J. Stein

I MUST CALL your attention to inaccuracies in the caption that accompanied a photograph of David Koresh's mother on the tenth anniversary of the events near Waco, Texas (News, May 17). The caption says that the government's siege of the Branch Davidians' compound was 15 days. It lasted 51 days, from February 28 to April 19. Even more problematic is the depiction of what happened. No government agents "stormed the compound" on April 19. The storming took place on February 28. On April 19, tear gas was inserted by tanks. The CENTURY account adds to the impression that the Davidians, not the government, were responsible for the tragedy. That's truly unfortunate and out of step with all the scholarship on the topic.

Stephen J. Stein

Bloomington, Ind.